Thane, Aug 22 (PTI) Police in Maharashtra's Thane have arrested a man for allegedly cheating a retired police official of Rs 7.40 lakh by posing as a chartered accountant (CA) over a period of five years.

The accused has been identified as Dharmendra Thakkar (51), while the victim is 71 years old residing in Kalwa locality of Thane, an official said on Friday.

The crime took place between May 2018 and July 2023.

"Under the pretext of filing the complainant's income tax returns, the accused collected an additional amount of Rs 7,40,426 from him. He misled the victim by pretending to be a CA and produced an identity card bearing the name and photograph of his wife, claiming to be a senior officer in the Income Tax Department. The accused used this ID card from time to time to gain trust," the official of Kalwa police station said.

"He used a four-wheeler registered in someone else's name and displayed on it the Indian national emblem with 'Government of India, Income Tax Department' written on it to mislead the complainant and others," he said.

"The accused, with the help of one witness, created an email ID of the complainant without the latter's permission. He retained its password, filed income tax returns in the complainant's name without consent, and used the email account for unlawful activities without offering any compensation to the witness whose identity was misused," the officer said.

When the victim came to know about the irregularities in tax filing, he questioned the latter about. However, the accused threatened him. He told the complainant that he himself provided to the victim false information to the Income Tax Department by evading taxes, he added.

A case has been registered and a probe was underway, the official said. PTI COR NP

Impersonation and fraud: man posed as tax professional and used fake credentials to file returns and obtain money, arrested. The accused impersonated a chartered accountant and a senior tax officer, produced forged identity credentials, used a vehicle bearing a government emblem to mislead a retired police official, collected money purportedly for income tax filing, created and controlled an email account in the complainant's name to file returns without consent, and threatened the complainant when irregularities were questioned; a criminal case has been registered and is under investigation.